    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book III)]
    [October 26, 2004]
    [Pages 2729-2741]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks in a Discussion in Richland Center, Wisconsin
    October 26, 2004

        The President. Thank you all for being here. Laura and I are--we're glad you came, and we are glad we
    came. I'm here to give you some reasons why I think you ought to put me
    back into office. I'm here to talk about issues that matter to our
    future. We're going to have--we're going to do it a little interesting
    way today. I've asked some of your fellow citizens to come up and talk
    about how our policies have affected their lives. And this will perhaps
    give people a clear view of why I have made some of the decisions I have
    made.
        Perhaps the most important reason why people ought to put me back
    into office is so that Laura will be the First
    Lady for 4 more years. I'm going to take my jacket off. Okay. Some of
    you all may relate to this. When I asked her to marry me--actually, we
    had gone--I don't know if you know this or not, but we were in seventh
    grade together in San Jacinto Junior High in Midland, Texas. We became
    reacquainted--are you from Midland?
        Audience member. Lubbock.
        The President. Lubbock, Texas, 150 miles south of Midland. Anyway,
    thank you, welcome.
        When we became reacquainted, she was a public
    school librarian. It's fitting we're in a school here, by the way. We
    want to thank the teachers who work in this school to help every child
    realize their dreams. Thank you.
        She said, ``Fine, I will marry you''--this is after I asked
    her, of course--``only if you make me one
    promise.'' I said, ``What is the promise?'' ``Promise me I'll never have
    to give a political speech.'' [Laughter] I, of course, said, ``Okay,
    you've got a deal.'' She didn't hold me to the promise, thankfully.
    She's giving a lot of speeches, and when she does, the American people
    see a warm and compassionate and great First Lady.
        I want to thank our friend Tommy Thompson. I want to thank him for his service to our country, and I
    want to thank him for his friendship. Tommy has done a great job in
    Washington. You trained him well. [Laughter] He was a wonderful Governor
    of Wisconsin; I knew that when I was looking for a Cabinet Secretary. I
    gave him a tough assignment, and he's handled it brilliantly. And I want
    to thank you, Tommy, for your service. Appreciate you.
        You know, Tommy and I went to
    Washington to get some things done, and one of the things we had to do
    was to make sure our seniors had quality health care. Medicine was
    changing; Medicare was not. For example, the Government would pay
    thousands of dollars for a heart surgery under Medicare but not one dime
    for the prescription drugs that could prevent the heart surgery from
    being needed in the first place. And Tommy and I understood that didn't
    make any sense for our seniors and it didn't make any sense for the
    taxpayers, so we worked together with both Republicans and Democrats to
    strengthen Medicare, to keep the promise to our seniors. And beginning
    in the year 2006, all seniors will be able to get prescription drug
    coverage under Medicare. I think it's important for you to know that
    when I say something, I mean it, and I'm going to get the job done.
        I want to thank thank Congressman Mark Green.
    I appreciate you coming, Congressman, a fine young Congressman from
    Wisconsin. He's not from this part of the world, but you'll get to know
    him, and when you do, you'll like him. He's a good, honest man.
        I want to thank Jack Voight for being
    here, the State treasurer of the great State of Wisconsin. Jack, thank
    you, sir. Good to see you again. And I want to thank the mayor. Madam
    Mayor, thanks for coming.

    [[Page 2730]]

    I'm proud you're here. I appreciate you being here. It means a lot.
        I want to thank U.S. Senate candidate Tim Michels and his wife, Barbara. You
    need to put him in the Senate. He's a good man. He's got good values.
    He'll make you a fine United States Senator. And I'm going to tell you
    who's going to make you a fine United States Congressman, and that would
    be Dale Schultz. Appreciate you--Schultz. He's
    working. He's shaking a lot of hands. He's putting up a lot of signs. I
    know firsthand. See, I'm taking the bus throughout this part of the
    world. [Laughter] And I've seen a lot of the signs, and that's a good
    sign. And I also want to thank Rachel--Rachel Schultz, who happens to be the district superintendent of the
    schools. And I want to thank you for your--being in education. I want to
    thank John Cler and all the folks associated with
    the high school for letting us come here today. I appreciate you coming.
    I want to thank the students. Thanks for coming, letting me come. All
    right. Study more than you watch TV. [Laughter] And if you're 18, make
    sure you vote.
        See, that's what I'm here to do. I'm here to ask people for the vote
    and for their help. We have a duty in this country to vote. We have a
    duty in democracy to go to the polls. People need to exercise their
    right in a free society. And I'm asking you for your help to get people
    to go to the polls. I know you've done a lot of work in this part of the
    world. I've seen a lot of signs for me, too, and I appreciate it. But
    those signs are important, but they don't pull the lever. And so coming
    down the stretch, I'm here to ask for your help in turning out the vote.
    And there's no doubt in my mind, with your help, we're going to carry
    the State of Wisconsin.
        We've really enjoyed our bus trips through Wisconsin. Today we
    stopped off and saw John and Connie
    Turgasen.
        Audience members. [Inaudible]
        The President. Evidently you've
    heard of them. That's good. [Laughter] Well,
    I wonder if they'd reconsider when they saw four buses pull up in their
    front yard. [Laughter] But they're dairy farmers. There were four
    generations of Turgasens right there, making a living off that one farm.
    It reminds me about how important it is to support our small businesses,
    our farmers, our ranchers. When you're getting people to go to the
    polls, remind them of this, that under the Bush administration, the
    farmers are doing just fine. The income is up, and people are making a
    living. And that's good for people all across this part of the world. We
    enjoyed going to that farm, and we enjoyed meeting that great Wisconsin
    family.
        You know, we've overcome a lot in this country. I pledged to make
    this country a more hopeful place, and that means hopeful for everybody.
    But we've had to overcome a lot in order to make it more hopeful. When
    you're out rounding up the vote, remind people about what this economy
    has been through. You know, a hopeful country is one in which people can
    make a living, people can stay on the farm, people who say to me, ``Mr.
    President, we've been able to support four generations of Turgasens on this farm.''
        But we've been through a lot in this economy. You know, the stock
    market was in serious decline 6 months prior to my arrival in
    Washington, DC. And then we had a recession. And then we had some
    corporate scandals, and that affected our economy. It's now abundantly
    clear that we're not going to tolerate dishonesty in the boardrooms of
    America. We expect people to be responsible citizens in this country.
    And we got attacked. And that attack of September the 11th cost us
    nearly a million jobs in the 3 months after the attack. We've had some
    obstacles put in our path.
        But we acted. I understand that when somebody's got more money in
    their pocket, they're likely to demand an additional good or a service.
    And when you demand

    [[Page 2731]]

    an additional good or a service in our marketplace, somebody is going to
    produce it. When somebody produces it, somebody is likely to find a job.
    The tax relief we passed is working. The tax relief we passed has got
    this economy growing again.
        And the facts are clear. We've added 1.9 million jobs in the last 13
    months. We're growing at rates as fast as any in nearly 20 years. Our
    farmers are doing well. Homeownership rate is at an alltime high. The
    unemployment rate nationally is 5.4 percent. Let me put that in
    perspective for you: 5.4 percent is lower than the average of the 1970s,
    the 1980s, and the 1990s. The unemployment rate in the State of
    Wisconsin is 5 percent. We're moving forward, and we're not going to go
    back to the days of tax and spend. That's not an economic policy; that's
    a way to get in your wallet and grow the size of the Federal Government.
        So there's more to do. It's one thing to talk about a record, but
    the only reason to look back is to be able to say to people, ``Here's
    what we're going to do as we move forward.'' The job of the President is
    to make sure the entrepreneurial spirit is strong, the environment for
    small-business creation is good, that people have a chance to make a
    living.
        So what does it take? One, it means we've got to keep your taxes
    low. I'm about to talk to some small-business owners here who know what
    it means to pay high taxes and what it means to have their taxes
    lowered. But taxes are an issue in this campaign. As you travel in your
    district and travel talking to people, remind people that taxes are an
    issue. The fellow I'm running against has
    proposed $2.2 trillion of new Federal spending. That's trillion with a
    ``T.'' That's a lot. Even for a Senator from Massachusetts, that's a
    lot.
        And so they said--and you know the legitimate question is, ``Fine,
    you made all these promises; how are you going to pay for them?'' And
    he threw out that same old line we've heard
    almost every campaign: ``Oh, we're just going to tax the rich.'' Now,
    we've heard that before. Let me tell you the two things wrong with that.

        One is that when you tax the rich--in other words, when you're
    running up the top two income brackets--you're going to tax small-
    business owners. Many small businesses pay tax at the individual income-
    tax rate because they're called Subchapter S corporations or sole
    proprietorships. Those are fancy legal and accounting words which mean
    they pay income tax at the individual rate. That's just the truth. About
    90 percent of all small business pay individual income taxes. So when
    you hear somebody say, ``Oh, we're just going to tax the rich,'' I want
    you thinking about the truth. And the truth is they're talking about
    taxing about 900,000 to a million small businesses. You know what the
    problem with that is? Seventy percent of new jobs are created by small
    businesses in America. It makes no sense to be taxing the job creators.

        And here is the other thing wrong with it. If you promise 2.2
    trillion, but your tax plan only raises between 600 and 800 billion,
    there is a gap between what is promised and what can be delivered. Now,
    there is a--my opponent has a history; it's a
    record. I like to tell people I'm running on my record. He's not running
    on his; he's running from his record. And part of his record--in his 20
    years as Senator, part of his record is he's voted to raise taxes 98
    times. That's a record; that's what he's done. I'm not making it up.
    That's five times every year he's been in the Senate. That's a
    predictable pattern. And so when you're trying to find out who's going
    to fill the tax gap, think about predictable patterns. In order to fill
    that gap, in order to make the difference between what he's promised and
    what he can deliver, guess who's going to get stuck with the bill? Yes,
    that's always what happens.

    [[Page 2732]]

        We're not going to let him tax you; we're not going to let
    him tax the small businesses, because we're
    going to carry Wisconsin and win on November the 2d.
        A couple of other things that I want to talk to you right quick
    about to make sure this economy continues to grow. First, we will
    continue with good farm policy. I'm for the MILC program--MILC, which is
    helping our dairy farmers. I'm for the reauthorization of that. Ask your
    dairy farmers whether that means something to them, and you're going to
    find out it does.
        We'll continue to open up markets, opening up markets for
    agriculture products and manufacturing products and high-tech products.
    They're good for the job creation and the job creators. Listen, we've
    opened up our market for goods from overseas, and that's good for you as
    a consumer. Think about how the market works. If you have more products
    to choose from, you're likely to get that which you want at a better
    price and higher quality. That's how the market works. So instead of
    shutting down our market when it comes to trade and hurting our
    consumers, our strategy is to say to places like China, ``You treat us
    the way we treat you,'' is to open up markets, is to demand that others
    are fair to us. And the reason why I do that is because I know we can
    compete with anybody, anytime, anywhere, so long as the rules are fair.
        If you want jobs to stay here, we've got to do something about the
    energy situation. I submitted a plan to the United States Congress 2
    years ago that encourages conservation, that encourages the use of
    ethanol and biodiesel. Think about the idea of being able to say as the
    President, ``The corn crop is up, and we're less dependent.'' Think
    about that, that someday it's going to happen. We're going to continue
    to spend research and development dollars so we can grow our way toward
    less reliance.
        We're promoting clean coal technology so that your powerplants can
    have power. We're going to modernize the electricity grid. We're going
    to explore for natural gas in environmentally friendly ways. What I'm
    telling you is this: In order to make sure that jobs continue to grow,
    that people can make a living, this country must become less dependent
    on foreign sources of energy.
        We're going to talk to a small-business manufacturer here. He told
    me he's had a problem with health care. Small businesses are having
    trouble affording health care. Most of the uninsured in America work for
    small businesses. So here's some commonsense ways to help you on health
    care.
        Small businesses ought to be able to pool together, pool risk so
    they can buy insurance at the same discounts that big companies get to
    do. You know, there needs to be economies of purchase in the
    marketplace. If you're a stand-alone small business, it costs you a lot
    of money to afford health care. If you're able to pool across
    jurisdictional boundaries, if you get more people to spread the risk,
    you're able to get insurance at better prices for your workers. That's a
    commonsense way of helping small businesses.
        We'll expand health savings accounts, which are commonsense ways of
    enabling people to be able to manage their own health care account, low-
    premium, high-deductible accounts where you can save tax-free. It will
    help your families. If you change jobs, you can take your health account
    with you from year to year. If you save money, you can roll over your
    savings in your health account tax-free. It's a way to make sure the
    decisionmaking is between you and your doctor, not between some
    insurance person and your doctor. The more you're able to have--the more
    you're involved with your health care decisions, the more likely it is
    there's a cost discipline in the marketplace.
        Listen, we'll take care of the needy. We have an obligation in our
    society to do so.

    [[Page 2733]]

    I'm a big believer in community health centers, places where the poor
    and the indigent can get good primary and preventative care. My pledge,
    I said in the convention speech and I'm saying all over the country, is
    that in a new term, we'll make sure every poor county in America has got
    a community health center to take the pressure off our emergency rooms
    and our hospitals.
        But let me tell you another practical way to make sure health care
    is available and affordable. We must do something about the litigious
    nature of our society. There's too many lawsuits. Lawsuits are running
    up the cost of doing business. Lawsuits are running good doctors out of
    practice. Lawsuits are hurting people who need health care. I have met
    too many ob-gyns around this country that are having to leave their
    practice because these lawsuits are running up their premiums. They
    cannot afford to practice medicine. I've met too many women who are
    deeply concerned about their health care and the health of their child
    because their local doctor no longer practices. And that's not right for
    America.
        If we're interested in our quality of life, we'd better do something
    about all these lawsuits. You cannot be pro-doctor, pro-patient, and
    pro-personal-injury-trial-lawyer at the same time. You have to choose in
    life. My opponent made his choice, and he put
    a personal injury trial lawyer on the ticket. I
    have made my choice. I am standing with the Wisconsin docs and patients
    and small-business owners. I am for medical liability reform--now.
        We have a difference of opinion when it comes to health care. I
    remember the debate when my opponent--they asked him about his health care plan, and he actually looked in the
    camera and said, ``The Government has nothing to do with it.'' You know,
    I could barely contain myself when he said that. [Laughter]
        The Government has a lot to do with his plan, and that's what I want
    you to understand. His plan is one--for
    example, when you run up Medicaid, run up the eligibility for Medicaid,
    it provides an incentive for small businesses to not provide insurance
    for their employees because the Government will. It's estimated some 8
    million people will go from private insurance to Government insurance.
    Eight out of ten people will be signed up to a Government program under
    his plan. I just strongly disagree. You don't want the Federal
    Government running your health care. When the Government starts paying,
    the Government starts deciding. And then the Government rations, and the
    Government chooses your doctor. It is not the right way to go when it
    comes to making sure there's quality health care for the people.

        Let me talk about another issue, and then we're going to talk to our
    guests. I have made a commitment to our seniors not only to good-quality
    Medicare but to Social Security. And Tommy
    and I were talking about the 2000 campaign. We were coming down the
    stretch, and they ran some ads here in this State that said to the
    seniors of Wisconsin, ``If George W. gets elected, you're not going to
    get your check.'' I don't know if you remember those. Tommy sure
    remembered them. Well, I want you to tell your friends and neighbors
    this: George W. did get elected, and the seniors got their checks. And
    the seniors will continue to get their checks. The Social Security
    trust, no matter what the politicians say, is in good shape for our
    seniors. It's going to meet--the seniors have nothing to worry about.
    Every 4 years, the scare tactics come out. I just assure you, you're
    going to get your checks. And baby boomers like me, we're in pretty good
    shape when it comes to the Social Security trust.

        But a President must deal with problems--you want a President who
    confronts problems, not passes them on to future generations and future
    Presidents. We have a problem with Social Security when it

    [[Page 2734]]

    comes to our children and our grandchildren. When the baby boomer
    generation retires, there is a question as to whether or not the
    children will have a--Social Security accounts available for them unless
    we think differently. I believe younger workers ought to be allowed to
    take some of their payroll taxes and set up a personal savings account,
    a personal savings account that will earn a greater rate of return than
    the current Social Security trust, an account they call their own, an
    account the Government cannot take away.
        Eric Sauey is with us. Eric, you ready to say
    something?
        Eric Sauey. Yes, sir.
        The President. Good. [Laughter] I hope so. I call him ``Mr.
    President.'' He's the president of?
        Mr. Sauey. Seats, Incorporated.
        The President. Based in?
        Mr. Sauey. Reedsburg, Wisconsin.
        The President. What do you do?
        Mr. Sauey. We manufacture seating for
    vehicles with wheels or tracks, other than passenger cars.
        The President. Okay. [Laughter]
        Mr. Sauey. Some of the markets that we serve
    are off-highway equipment, semi tractors, commercial turf mowers,
    firetrucks, delivery vans, many different custom-types of seats.
        The President. Are you making a living?
        Mr. Sauey. We're making a living.
        The President. Good. Tell me--first of all, I want you to know--how
    are you organized?
        Mr. Sauey. We're an S corporation. We're a
    family-run, family-owned business. We're an S corporation. We're in the
    process of trying to expand here into Richland Center. Some of the
    things that we have, from the basic values that we have--[applause].
        The President. Sounds like they want you here. [Laughter]
        Mr. Sauey. We have some values of a small
    business that were passed on to me by my father, who helped start this
    business, and my mother, that--we can't take all the profits out of the
    business. We have to put them back into the business to grow the
    business, to nurture it. I'm second generation. I hope to pass it--the
    business goes to my kids or nieces and nephews, and we can't do that if
    we're paying taxes. We need to invest that back into the business for
    capital, reinvestment, R&D.
        The President. Perfect. Let me--so here's the tax relief. Remember
    all the rhetoric about the tax relief, ``only certain people benefit.''
    When you cut the taxes for everybody who pays taxes, you're benefiting
    small-business owners like Subchapter S corporations. Have you hired
    anybody this year?
        Mr. Sauey. We've hired a lot of people this
    year. We're up to about 380 people right now; we're looking to hire
    more.
        The President. Yes, see, they're hiring. They're expanding. They're
    growing. One reason why they're doing well, they've got innovative
    leadership. Isn't that right?
        Mr. Sauey. Yes, sir. [Laughter]
        The President. Another reason why is they've got more money. See,
    the money is not going to the Federal Government; the money is staying
    with his company, which gives him the optimism
    and confidence to expand. Seventy percent of new jobs are created by
    small businesses. Our economic policies recognize that and we say to
    people like Eric, ``Go for it. Expand. Here's some extra money, your
    money to begin with.'' And he says he's going to hire. He may come here
    to Richland Center.
        And so my opponent says, oh, he's just
    going to tax the rich. You're looking at the rich. [Laughter] You're
    looking at a man who said, ``We may come to
    Richland Center. We may hire new people.'' They're less likely to expand
    and to hire new people if the Federal Government takes money from them.
    That just makes sense. That's just simple economics.
        Let me ask you something. Do you ever invest?

    [[Page 2735]]

        Mr. Sauey. We invest a lot. Every year we
    invest in excess of $1\1/2\ million. This last year we've invested more
    than $2 million in capital equipment. We are in the process right now of
    installing a computerized--[inaudible]--machine, a computerized--
    [inaudible], a 400-ton punch press--[laughter].
        The President. That sounded like a big one to me. [Laughter] You
    see, good tax policy says to businessowners, ``Invest,'' because you
    know what investment means? Investment means jobs. And so in our tax
    policy we said to small-business owners that you're able to deduct up to
    $100,000 for equipment expensing in the year in which you buy it, as
    opposed to $25,000. And why did we do that? Because we want to encourage
    Eric to invest. And so he says he buys a 400-
    ton----
        Mr. Sauey. Punch press.
        The President. Punch press. [Laughter] Kind of hard to say if you're
    from Texas--[laughter]--punch press. But guess what, because of the
    decision he made, two things happened: One, his
    business is more productive; it's more likely that he can compete. He's
    bought a piece of equipment that makes him more competitive. And we live
    in a competitive world, and the more competitive he is, the more likely
    it is someone is going to work for his company. The more competitive he
    is, the more likely it is he's going to expand his business here. But
    guess what else, because he bought the 400-ton punch press, somebody had
    to make it. And when somebody makes it, somebody is more likely to find
    work at the punch press manufacturing business.
        This economy is moving because people like Eric are confident about the future. He's sitting here in
    front of all these cameras and these people saying, ``I'm going to
    expand my business.'' That's what you want to hear. And the question is,
    which one of the Presidential candidates, one, understands the
    importance of small businesses and the entrepreneurial spirit, and which
    one of us has the plans to make sure Eric feels comfortable investing
    and expanding his business? And I make the case to the people of
    Wisconsin, it is George W. Bush who understands that.
        Ready to go, Greeley?
        Jim Greeley. I'm ready for you, I think.
        The President. All right. Jim Greeley,
    small-business owner. What do you do?
        Mr. Greeley. Thank you.
        The President. Greeley Signs, yes.
        Mr. Greeley. Yes.
        The President. Tell us what you do.
        Mr. Greeley. Well, Mr. President, I have a
    sign company that I started about 30 years ago. And I'm at the point now
    where I'm passing it along to my son. But in the last 2 years, we've
    expanded with a 20,000 square foot addition. We've added new printing
    equipment so we can print giant posters, such as political posters. If
    you need any, you know where to look. [Laughter]
        The President. It's a little late. You should have gotten your order
    in early. But anyway. [Laughter]
        Mr. Greeley. We've added a laser engraver,
    and we've added several other such printing equipment----
        The President. So you've been investing.
        Mr. Greeley. Pardon?
        The President. You've been investing.
        Mr. Greeley. I've been investing, and we've
    been putting our money where our mouth is. We have to. We have to have
    confidence in the future of America----
        The President. Right.
        Mr. Greeley. ----and confidence in the
    future of this country.
        The President. See, he's investing $140,000
    this year. I hope you didn't mind me saying that. [Laughter] And he
    saved $27,000 as a result of the tax relief package, because of the
    investments. See, good tax policy says to Jim, ``If you make a capital
    investment, there's an incentive to do so.'' And it's very important for
    people to understand that the reason we passed tax policy when we did
    was to help move this economy forward, and the best way to

    [[Page 2736]]

    move it forward is to talk--is to address the needs of small-business
    owners. If 70 percent of the new jobs in America are created by the Jims
    of the world, then we ought to encourage him, and we ought to provide
    incentives for him to expand his business.
        Did you hire anybody? Are you going to hire anybody? Tell me.
        Mr. Greeley. Oh, yes, we'll keep hiring.
        The President. Good. Well, it says here you hired three in 2004.
        Mr. Greeley. Say again?
        The President. You hired three people in 2004.
        Mr. Greeley. Yes, we've hired three in 2004,
    and we'll hire more because we have plans of continuing to expand. In
    fact, we have dibs on another acre and a half of land.
        The President. There you go.
        Mr. Greeley. We want to keep on----
        The President. See, here's what's happening in America. Small
    businesses hire 3 people there, 100 here, 50 there, and it's the real
    vitality of our economy, when you think about it.
        I want to say something else about small-business ownership, two
    other things. And this relates to our farmers too. You heard both
    these men say they're
    thinking about passing their business on to their family members, but
    our Tax Code discourages that. The Tax Code makes it really hard for
    somebody--the Turgasens were talking about it, how hard it is to pass their
    dairy farm on to the next generation. You know why? Because this Tax
    Code of ours taxes a person twice, once when they're living and once
    when they die. And the death tax is hard on our small-business owners
    and really hard on our farmers. If you're interested in keeping family
    farms alive, then you need to support me when it comes to getting rid of
    the death tax forever. If you want there to be a small business--
    [applause].
        Thank you, sir. You did a great job.
        Mr. Greeley. Did you see the Packer-Dallas
    game? [Laughter]
        The President. I saw that, and I know the Wisconsin Badgers are
    undefeated, you know. And let me tell you what else I know. I know the
    Packers beat Dallas at Lambeau Field. Who invited you? [Laughter]
        Anyway, you know, one of the things we did--good tax policy also
    helps families. And part of our tax plan was to help families be able to
    better afford life and better enable them to raise their children.
        Margie Seamans is with us. When people
    are arguing about this Tax Code, remind them we raised the child credit
    to 1,000. We reduced the marriage penalty. By the way, there is a--I
    can't imagine a Tax Code that penalizes marriage. The Tax Code ought to
    encourage marriage.
        And so what do you do?
        Margie Seamans. I work at Land's End, and
    I do payroll and scheduling.
        The President. Very good company. Yes. And David--your husband,
    David?
        Mrs. Seamans. Yes. My husband, David, is
    not employed right now.
        The President. Right.
        Mrs. Seamans. He has a back injury that
    he had in the service.
        The President. Service, right.
        Mrs. Seamans. And so he currently stays
    home right now.
        The President. You're bringing home the money.
        Mrs. Seamans. I'm bringing home the
    money.
        The President. And children?
        Mrs. Seamans. I have two children--
    Danielle, 13, and Megan, 11.
        The President. Fabulous. Teenage years, I remember them fondly.
    [Laughter] The tax relief we passed saved this family $1,700 a year. Now
    that may not sound a lot to people in Washington, DC. It's a lot for
    this family.
        Mrs. Seamans. It was a blessing when we
    received the child tax credit. My husband had outstanding medical bills,
    and we

    [[Page 2737]]

    used those--used that money to pay for those. And just having that lower
    tax from my paycheck each week, it makes a big difference, a noticeable
    difference.
        The President. See, here's the fundamental difference in the
    campaign. By the way, my opponent voted
    against all this tax relief. It would have cost the average family--
    middle-class family $2,000 extra in Federal taxes, and that's the
    philosophical difference. Who do you want spending your own money?
        See, we're setting priorities in Washington, and we'll meet those
    priorities. You're going to hear me talk about a big priority here
    pretty soon, which is defending the homeland. But I believe
    this family can
    spend their money better than the Federal Government can spend their
    money.
        Thanks for coming, Margie. I appreciate
    you being here.
        Finally, we've got Corey Kanable. Welcome.
        Corey Kanable. Thank you. [Applause]
        The President. You've got quite a following here. [Laughter] I'll
    tell you why he's here. He bought a home. You
    know, one of the greatest things in America is when somebody opens up
    the door where they live and says, ``Welcome to my home. Welcome to my
    piece of property.'' Do you realize the homeownership rate is at an
    alltime high under my administration.
        So when did you buy it?
        Mr. Kanable. We bought our home in July
    2003.
        The President. Good. What's it like? You like it?
        Mr. Kanable. Oh, we love it. It's a three-
    bedroom ranch on the west side of town. It's a nice quiet neighborhood--
    most of the town is. It's real comfortable to be in your hometown. My
    wife, Gretchen, and I both grew up in this area and wanted to come back
    here and----
        The President. Fantastic. Good.
        Mr. Kanable. It allowed us to do so.
        The President. And you were a renter before?
        Mr. Kanable. We rented 2 years out of the
    area. And I mean, the American Dream of owning your own home was
    realized to us because of the tax credit and the interest rate. We
    couldn't go wrong.
        The President. Well, this is important for, I think, for the future
    of this country, is to encourage owner--homeownership as well as
    ownership. We want youngsters being able to own and manage their own
    Social Security account. We want businesses flourishing and people to
    own their own small business. And we want people owning their own home.
    You know why? Because when you own something, you have a vital stake in
    the future of your country. I like to tell people, no one ever washes a
    rental car. [Laughter]
        Mr. Kanable. Absolutely.
        The President. So how has it changed your life? If somebody is
    watching and hears--says, ``Gosh, I don't know whether I want to buy a
    home or not,'' how has it changed your life?
        Mr. Kanable. Oh, it's great. I mean, you
    have something of your own, something you've invested in. We've had the
    privilege of doing some remodeling to it, things that, you know, it
    would be great to be able to do. We would like to do this. We recently
    were able to get a FEMA grant to fix our basement; it had a water
    problem. So now we can finish that off. You know, we're looking at new
    siding, new roofing, and maybe adding a garage on. We're planning on
    building a deck this spring, things that we just--you know, in an
    apartment, you can't do that.
        The President. Right, it's your home.
        Mr. Kanable. That's right.
        The President. The tax relief saved this
    family $1,000 this year and last year. So
    you hear a person say, ``Gosh, I'm thinking about adding a garage,'' you
    know, ``I'm thinking about doing something to my piece of property.''
    Tax relief has helped people realize their dreams. Tax relief is a vital
    part not only of helping this economy recover, but it's a vital part of
    enhancing the

    [[Page 2738]]

    quality of life of our citizens. And that's why I'm going to keep your
    taxes low.
        I've got a couple other things--if you've got time, I've got a
    couple other things on my mind.
        First, I've been talking about a changing world, and it's important
    that we know the world is changing. In a changing world, jobs change,
    the nature of jobs change, the skill sets necessary to fill jobs change.
    That's why education is so vital. That's why we've got to make sure we
    get it right. The No Child Left Behind Act is a great piece of
    legislation because we believe in high standards and accountability.
    We're challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations. We want to make
    sure the high school diploma means something. We'll expand Pell grants
    for lower and middle-income families so more children are able to start
    their career with a college diploma. I'm a big believer in the community
    college system, because community colleges are able to devise curriculum
    for the jobs which actually exist, to be able to help people get the
    skills necessary to fill the new jobs which are being created.
        But in times of change, some things do not change, the values we try
    to live by, courage and compassion, reverence and integrity. We stand
    for a culture of life in which every person matters and every being
    counts. We stand for marriage and families, which are the foundations of
    our society. And we stand for judges who know the difference between
    personal opinion and the strict interpretation of the law.
        And on these issues, there is a difference of opinion. My
    opponent's words on values issues are a little
    murky--[laughter]--but his record is clear. You know, the Congress in
    the mid-nineties voted on what was called the Defense of Marriage Act.
    It's an act that defined marriage as between a man and a woman. It
    received big bipartisan support. Republicans voted for it. Democrats
    voted for it. President Clinton signed
    the bill into law. My opponent was one of a few out-of-the-mainstream
    Democrats that voted against the Defense of Marriage Act. He voted
    against the ban on the brutal practice of partial-birth abortion. He has
    said that the Reagan years were a period of moral darkness. There is a
    mainstream in American politics, and he sits on the far left bank. He
    can try to run, but he cannot hide from his record.
        And finally, I want to talk to you about how to keep the peace. I
    want to talk to you about the overriding issue in this campaign, which
    is the security of the American people. See, all we've talked about is
    really important, but unless we're secure, unless we're able to achieve
    the peace, we won't be able to achieve a hopeful America. And the people
    are confronted with a clear choice in this campaign on this issue.
        Let me tell you what I have learned and what I know about the post-
    September the 11th world. First, that we're fighting against a ruthless
    enemy that has no conscience, which means you cannot negotiate with
    them, you cannot appease them, you cannot hope for the best with them.
    The way to deal with them and protect the American people is to stay on
    the offense, find them where they hide, defeat them overseas so we do
    not have to face them here at home. Secondly--[applause]. Thank you.
    Thank you all.
        I tell people that if we show uncertainty or weakness during these
    troubled times, this world of ours will drift toward tragedy. It's not
    going to happen so long as I'm your President. I understand that we must
    not show weakness. We must be certain in our resolve. The terrorists
    must absolutely understand they can't intimidate us; they can't force us
    to not defend our freedom.
        Second lesson is that when the President says something, he better
    mean what he says in order to keep this world peaceful. And I meant what
    I said when I said, ``If you harbor a terrorist, you're equally as
    guilty as the terrorists.'' In other words, this is a different kind
    of--we have a different challenge to defend our country.

    [[Page 2739]]

    And I was speaking at that moment in time specifically to the Taliban in
    Afghanistan.
        Why was I doing that? Because you might remember, some 3\1/2\ years
    ago, Al Qaida was training in Afghanistan. They were like the parasite,
    and the host was slowly but surely being overcome by the parasite, it
    seemed like to me. But there was a--kind of a convenience of philosophy.
    These people are ideologues of hate. They have a backward, dim vision of
    the world. I want the kids here to understand what life was like in
    Afghanistan. Young girls could not go to school. There was a grim
    ideology that expected certain things, particularly out of women. And if
    the women did not toe the line, they were taken to the public square and
    whipped and sometimes executed in a sports stadium.
        These are barbaric people, the Taliban. This is their view of the
    world and Al Qaida's view of the world. They've hijacked a great
    religion. They hate what we stand for because we're the opposite. We
    believe in freedom. We believe people can express their opinion anyway
    they see fit, that you can worship the Almighty or not worship the
    Almighty in America and you're equally American. And if you choose to
    worship the Almighty, you're just as American if you're a Muslim, Jew,
    or Christian. That's what we believe in our country. And that's the
    opposite of them. They don't believe that.
        And so I said, you know, ``If you harbor a terrorist, you're equally
    as guilty.'' And they just ignored what we said. And we removed the
    Taliban from power, thanks to a great United States military, and as a
    result--it's important to uphold doctrine when you say it--sent a
    message throughout the world that when America says something, we mean
    it. When we say we're going to defend ourselves, we mean it.
        And as a result of the Taliban being removed from power, Al Qaida no
    longer trains in Afghanistan. As a result of the Taliban no longer being
    in power, millions of citizens registered to vote and voted in a
    Presidential election. And the first voter was a 19-year-old
    woman, the first voter in the Afghanistan
    election. Unbelievable moment.
        Think about how far that society has come in a brief period of time.
    You know, I'm confident there were a lot of doubters as to whether or
    not democracy would take hold in Afghanistan. You can understand why. I
    mean, who would have ever thought that people that had been subjected to
    such a brutal life would conceivably want to vote. But they forgot what
    we know: Freedom lurks in everybody's heart. People want to be free in
    the world. Freedom is on the march, and America is more secure for it.
        Thirdly, when we see a threat, we must take it seriously before it
    comes to hurt us. Prior to September the 11th, if we saw a threat, we
    could deal with it or not deal with it because we felt secure. We felt
    oceans could protect us. But we learned a different lesson on September
    the 11th. It's essential the American people and the American President
    understand that when we see a threat, we must take it seriously.
    Elsewise, it might come and hurt us. I saw a threat in Saddam
    Hussein, and the world is better off with
    Saddam Hussein sitting in a prison cell.
        And our strategy in Iraq is clear. We'll train Iraqi citizens so
    they can do the hard work of defending their freedom against the likes
    of Zarqawi. You know, I've heard the
    critics say, ``Well, if we hadn't been on the offensive, the terrorists
    wouldn't be as active as they are.'' Well, Zarqawi was planning in
    Afghanistan; he was in a training camp until we arrived and closed the
    camp down. Then he moved to Baghdad, where he's beheading people and
    setting off car bombs. What do these people think Zarqawi would be
    doing? Do they think he'd be kind of a peaceful small-business owner?
    [Laughter] He hates America. It is best we defeat Zarqawi in Iraq so he
    doesn't come here and hurt us. It is best

    [[Page 2740]]

    we secure our country by defeating the enemy overseas.
        And we're training the Iraqis to do the hard work. I remember the
    debates. He said, ``Well, America is suffering
    all the casualties.'' That excludes and ignores the casualties being
    lost by the Iraqi people as they defend their own country. We mourn
    every single life in America, and we mourn the lives of those brave
    souls who are defending freedom in Iraq as well.
        Iraq is going to have elections. Think about how far that country
    has come in a brief period of time from the days of torture chambers and
    mass graves, the days of a brutal tyrant.
    We're better off with America helping to promote liberty around the
    world. And so we'll get those countries on the path to stability and
    democracy as quickly as we can. And then our troops will come home with
    the honor they have earned.
        I want to thank those who are here who have set such a great example
    for those who wear the uniform, our veterans. I appreciate your service
    to our country. I want to thank the military families who are here for
    your sacrifice. I want to thank those who wear the uniform. We got a
    great United States military. [Applause] And I want to assure--please be
    seated, thank you. We've still got a lot--a little work left to do. Just
    a little, then we're heading on the bus to Cuba City.
        So I want to assure the loved ones of those who wear the uniform
    that so long as I'm the Commander in Chief, we'll give your loved ones
    all the support they need to complete their missions. That's why I went
    to the Congress and asked for $87 billion of vital funding for our
    troops in harm's way, and it was important. It was important--such an
    important request that we got great bipartisan support. I want you tell
    your friends and neighbors of this startling statistic: 4 Members of the
    United States Senate, 4 out of 100, voted to authorize the use of force
    and then voted against the funding to support our troops in combat--4
    people, 2 of whom were my opponent and his
    runningmate. Think about that--voted yes for
    the authorization but voted no when it came time to support the troops.
        They asked him why, and he said, ``I
    actually did vote for the $87 billion, right before I voted against
    it.'' [Laughter] I haven't been in any coffee shops in this part of the
    world; I suspect not a lot of people talk like that. [Laughter] He's
    given a lot of explanations since, a lot of them. One of the most
    interesting ones of all is, he finally said about the $87 billion vote,
    ``The whole thing was a complicated matter.'' There is nothing
    complicated about supporting our men and women in harm's way.
        I believe that liberty has the power to transform societies. It's
    etched in my very being. Let me help make my case by describing our
    relationship to Prime Minister Koizumi of
    Japan. We like him a lot--I say, ``we''; Laura
    and I do. We've had him to our ranch. He's a good man. I saw him in the
    U.N. I said, ``You know, I'm out on the campaign trail, and I'm telling
    people about my relationship with you. I hope you don't mind.'' He said,
    ``Oh, fine, go ahead and talk about it.'' What I didn't ask him was
    permission to tell you that Elvis was his favorite singer--[laughter]--
    true.
        Anyway, so we have got a good relationship with him. And that's--I'm sure to some doesn't seem odd. ``So
    what, the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Japan
    working together; it's happened with other Presidents.'' That's right,
    except it wasn't all that long ago that we were at war with the
    Japanese. Some 60 years ago, Japan was the sworn enemy of the United
    States of America. There's a generation of Americans still alive today
    that fought in that war. My dad was one;
    your dads--I'm sure somebody here did that very same thing. There's a
    gentleman right there. Thank you, sir. There's another man. Yes, sir.
    There's another gentleman.

    [[Page 2741]]

    Thank you. Another one--well, they're everywhere. Yes, sir, thanks. It
    makes my point. It wasn't all that long ago that we were at war with the
    Japanese. They were the bitter enemy of the United States.
        And after we won that war, Harry S. Truman, President of the United
    States, believed in the power of liberty to transform an enemy into an
    ally and worked to build a democracy in Japan. Now, there was a lot of
    skeptics. You can understand why. Why should we help an enemy? A lot of
    people's lives were turned upside down as a result of that war with the
    Japanese, and they weren't interested at all about helping the Japanese.
    I'm sure there were skeptics saying the enemy couldn't conceivably
    become a democracy--a lot of doubters. There was also people in this
    country had faith in the ability of liberty to transform societies. As a
    result of that faith, I sit down at the table with Prime Minister
    Koizumi, talking about how to keep the
    peace that we all want.
        Think about that. Think about what liberty can do to a society. And
    that's what I want the young to understand, what's taking place in the
    world today. Someday, an American President will be sitting down with a
    duly elected leader from Iraq, talking about the peace in the broader
    Middle East. And our children and our grandchildren will be better off
    for it.
        I believe everybody yearns to be free. I believe people in the
    broader Middle East want to be free. I believe that because freedom is
    not America's gift to the world; freedom is the Almighty God's gift to
    each man and woman in this world.
        So I've come to your good city to ask for the vote and ask for your
    help. I know why I'm running again. I want to extend prosperity and hope
    to every corner of the country. I want to promote an ownership society
    where more and more citizens from all walks of life can say, ``I own my
    home. I own my business.'' I want people to be able to realize a great
    tomorrow by making sure this country is safe and secure from an enemy. I
    know where I want to take us. We've done the hard work together over
    3\3/4\ years. We've climbed the mountain, and now we can see the valley
    below, a valley which is hopeful and prosperous and peaceful. And with
    your help, we will get there together.
        God bless. Thank you for coming. I appreciate you being here. Thank
    you all. Thank you, sir.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:43 a.m. at Richland Center High School.
    In his remarks, he referred to Mayor Rita Kidd of Richland Center, WI;
    Dale Schultz, candidate in Wisconsin's Third Congressional District, and
    his wife, Rachel, district administrator, Richland School District; John
    Cler, principal, Richland Center High School; senior Al Qaida associate
    Abu Musab Al Zarqawi; and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan.